7 Wrestlers that refused to work with WWE

#5 Kota Ibushi

Kota Ibushi is a former IWGP Intercontinental Champion

Kota Ibushi was one of the participants in the Cruiserweight Classic tournament, and although he was the favorite going in, Ibushi refused to sign a contract with WWE beyond the tournament. Much like Zack Sabre, Jr and his loss to Gran Metalik, Ibushi would make it to the semifinal match, losing his to the eventual winner, TJ Perkins. Interestingly, three of the final four men left in the Cruiserweight Classic now work in some way for NJPW. Zack Sabre, Jr and Kota Ibushi are major stars in New Japan and TJP wrestles for many of the company's shows in the United States.

One reason behind Ibushi's unwillingness to sign a contract with WWE is that he really only joined he CWC to expand his horizons and get more eyes on Japanese wrestling. Ibushi has historically been difficult to be nailed down to any single company, being seen as a freelancer for most of his career, mainly working for Japanese promotions DDT and New Japan. In 2019, he announced that he was finally going to sign a long-term deal with New Japan, and that he planned to stay for "the rest of his career". He wound up winning the G1 Climax tournament and was in one of the main events of this year's WrestleKingdom, the biggest non-WrestleMania show in the wrestling world.

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#4 Kenny Omega

Kenny Omega at All Elite Wrestling's All Out event.

In late 2018, WWE reportedly reached out to Kenny Omega with a multi-year contract to sign, but he refused. He was apparently offered a lot of money, a guaranteed push, and maybe even some control over his character. Although the money was right, and he was said to be debuting on the main roster, not NXT, if he signed, control over his storylines was a big deal. That is something he has in AEW, a company in which he serves as an Executive Vice President and has far more say than he ever would in WWE, plus the money to match it.

New Japan didn't offer him what he wanted, WWE didn't offer him what he wanted, so he and his friends left New Japan, turned down offers from WWE, and created their own company instead. It's working out pretty well for them.